Shockoe Bottom, Richmond – Virginia, U.S.A. I think we each have a space that consistently inspires us to dream. Some of us may even have more than one. These may be physical places, moments, or even the company of a good friend. Whatever the space, it’s comfortable and familiar, nonjudgmental and boundless. When we’re there, life is wide open and everything seems possible.
“The restlessness and the longing, like the longing that is in the whistle of a faraway train. Except that the longing isn’t really in the whistle—it is in you.” -Meindert Dejong
I have a few spaces where dreaming comes easily. The Thanksgiving holiday, spent with family in southern Virginia, is one. Nothing frees my mind like laughing and reminiscing with my parents and brothers over our favorite dishes. It’s like being transported back to childhood when life was whatever I imagined it to be.
Places of mass transit have the same effect on me. As much as I travel for business — nowhere near as glamorous as I imagined — they’re still magical for me. I am still excited by the bustle of airports and train stations, their lofty architecture, the promise of faraway places, the footsteps of people on journeys, the stories on their faces and in snatches of conversation. It’s as though the hum of travel in progress puts the dominant left side of my brain to sleep and stirs the other. I have dreamt up entire new lifestyles, careers, and travel goals — you name it — while awaiting my twice-monthly flight between Washington, DC, to Miami.
So, this Thanksgiving, I arranged for a much longer than usual stay with family so that I could indulge the free spiritedness that comes with the holiday. I spent the time exploring the nearby Virginia state capital, Richmond, a city I travel through often, but rarely set foot in. While I took in several Richmond neighborhoods, my heart fell hard for historic Shockoe Bottom — it has a magnificent old Beaux Arts-style train station that’s perfect for dreaming.
